You will form plurals such as evler and kitaplar and put the plural in the right place when more endings follow.
The idea
The plural has two shapes: -ler after a word whose last vowel is e i ö ü, and -lar after a ı o u. The l never changes and the stem does not soften: kitap becomes kitaplar. The plural is the first ending, straight after the stem: ev-ler-imiz-de. A few loanwords with a light l take -ler even after a or o: kalpler, saatler, roller.
| Last vowel | Plural | Example |
|---|---|---|
| a | -lar | arabalar |
| ı | -lar | kapılar |
| o | -lar | yollar |
| u | -lar | kuşlar |
| e | -ler | evler |
| i | -ler | kediler |
| ö | -ler | gözler |
| ü | -ler | günler |
Examples
- Kediler pencerede uyuyor.The cats are sleeping at the window.
- Misafirler akşam geliyor.The guests are coming in the evening.A plural subject does not force a plural ending on the verb: Misafirler geliyor is the normal sentence, and geliyorlar is only an option for people.
- Öğretmenler sınıfta bekliyor.The teachers are waiting in the classroom.
- kalplerheartsThe word kalp has the back vowel a, yet it takes -ler, because the l is pronounced light. The same is true of saat (saatler) and rol (roller). Learn such loanwords one by one.
- gözlerimmy eyesgözler-ler / -lar: the plural suffixim-im / -ım / -um / -üm / -m: my
- kitaplarımızdanfrom our bookskitaplar-ler / -lar: the plural suffixımız-imiz / -ımız / -umuz / -ümüz: ourdan-den / -dan / -ten / -tan: from, out of
- öğretmenlerimizeto our teachersöğretmenler-ler / -lar: the plural suffiximiz-imiz / -ımız / -umuz / -ümüz: oure-e / -a / -ye / -ya: to, towards
- çocuklarınızyour children (you, plural)çocuklar-ler / -lar: the plural suffixınız-ınız / -iniz / -unuz / -ünüz: your (plural, polite)
- Masada üç bardak var.There are three glasses on the table.After üç (three) the noun stays singular: bardak, not bardaklar. The number already shows that there is more than one.
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Watch out
Do not move the plural to the end. evlerde means “in the houses”, but evdeler is a different sentence: “they are at home”. Build outwards from the stem: plural, then owner, then case.
Try it yourself
Add the plural and then the ablative to çocuk (child): from the children.
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çocuklardan
çocuklardan: çocuk ends in the back vowel u, so -lar; the plural comes first, then -dan because r is voiced.
Make the plural of the loanword saat (hour, clock).
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saatler
saatler: the last vowel is a, but saat is a loanword with a light l, so it takes -ler; it is one of the exceptions.
There are five students in the classroom. Write öğrenci (student) in the right form.
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öğrenci
öğrenci: after beş (five) the number already shows the plural, so the noun stays singular.
Build “in our houses” from ev (house): plural, our, in.
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evlerimizde
evlerimizde: ev plus -ler (front vowel e), then -imiz (our), then -de (in); the plural stands before the possessive and the case.
Practice round
Answer questions, then rebuild Turkish sentences and words where available. We keep your score.
Add the plural and then the ablative to çocuk (child): from the children.
Make the plural of the loanword saat (hour, clock).
There are five students in the classroom. Write öğrenci (student) in the right form.
Build “in our houses” from ev (house): plural, our, in.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the words in the right order.
Tap the parts in order to build this word: my eyes
Tap the parts in order to build this word: from our books
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Choose four things in your room. Write them in the plural and add -de or -da to two of them. Check that the plural comes first.